


Nameless Saga

by Arcerdo



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, Gen, Original Character(s), Original Universe, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22655383
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arcerdo/pseuds/Arcerdo
Summary: A being from the future, consumed by despair.A Hero from the past, refusing to give up on hope.The two collide, over the fate of us all.Only one will prevail, but which will it be?This is their story, for you to witness.





	Nameless Saga

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, this is going to be a long one so i ask for your indulgence. 
> 
> What i have here is something that initially began as an assignment for creative writing class i attended years ago.
> 
> Then it became a personal challenge to me for... I forget why, but i challenged myself to create an antagonist whose goal was, well, going for the classic destroy the world theme while keeping the said antagonist interesting.  
> Since the intention wasn't to make us sympathise with him, but at least understand what was it that drove him to this point. 
> 
> I was reminded of it again a few years ago and asked some people i knew on social media if they would be interested in hearing about it.   
> From there it just caught on. 
> 
> It then became a challenge for myself to use it and create an entire story about it.  
> A sort of 'if i were to write a rough idea for an anime/manga/game etc.' 
> 
> This is the result.
> 
> It is rough around the edges, heavily abridged and... Well, when you read you will understand.
> 
> I now ask you give it a look. Yes, it is long but i am confident that it will keep you invested until the end. 
> 
> Enjoy

━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━  
  
 _ **Nameless Saga**_  
  
━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

  
  
_**In the future, about 100 years from our time there lived a man.**_  
  
  
 _ **Whether this man was a human, demon or a divine being is unknown.**_  
  
  
 _ **This man could not accept what humanity and society they built had become,**_  
  
  
 _ **He despaired over his inability to stop mankind and the world he loved from heading towards their final endgame.**_  


__   
_**He realised that it was too late to save mankind as it was, so instead he would change the event that would lead mankind down this corrupt path.** _   
__

__   
_**Using an unknown power, the man traveled into the past, to the point where he had deemed the first event that sets mankind towards the endgame would occur.** _   
__

__   
_**Once there, he intervened and changed the course of history, expecting to disappear for the future he came from would no longer exist.** _   
__

__   
_**Yet he did not.** _   
__   
__   
_**His existence somehow continued.** _   
__   
__   
_**He couldn't understand why.** _   
__

__   
_**Deciding to continue observing the 'new history' that was now being written from the shadows, while trying to understand why he was still here.** _   
__

__   
_**As years went by, the man noticed that his body had ceased to age; it was a side-effect of traveling across time, by moving through it, his own 'time' had stopped moving.** _   
__

__   
_**However, even as years went by and the course of events had been altered, the man noticed much to his horror that the overall history of mankind had not changed.** _   
__   
__   
_**He hadn't changed the results, merely altered the events leading up to the 'endgame' of mankind.** _   
__

__   
_**After this realization, the man made a hard decision;** _   
__   
__   
_**He would throw away his name,** _   
__   
__   
_**His past,** _   
__   
__   
_**His future,** _   
__   
__   
_**Everything that he had once been,** _   
__

__   
_**In order to become a nameless being who would dedicate his entire eternal life to changing the future of mankind.** _   
__   
__   
_**Using his knowledge of history, skills and insight from the future the man, now known as 'Nameless' gathered people to form a clan to accomplish his mission.** _   
__

__   
_**This clan would stay hidden in the shadows, controlling the course of history to stop the 'endgame' from coming and for a 'golden age' to come.** _   
__

__   
_**As decades went by, Nameless would come to be revered as a god who had seen the future by his clan, who had prophesied the new age of mankind.** _   
__

__   
_**Using his skills and knowledge from the future, combined with the lost mystical and magical arts of the past he had succeeded in surpassing all mortal limits, becoming a being that was a god both in name and body.** _   
__

__   
_**He came to be known as 'Nameless God'.** _   
__

__   
_**He would guide humanity from the shadows,** _   
__   
__   
_**Avert the 'endgame',** _   
__   
__   
_**Bring a prosperous, peaceful future of bliss and happiness for everyone.** _   
__

__   
_**... At least, that is how it was supposed to be.** _   
__

__   
_**As centuries went by, no matter how much he tried, the Nameless had been unsuccessful in changing the future of mankind. No matter how hard he tried to change events, all he managed to do was slightly alter them.** _   
__

__   
_**But in the long-run historical events though played out differently, the end result overall remained the same. Whether it was time itself that refused to be changed, or mankind had been beyond salvation from the beginning...** _   
__

__   
_**The Nameless no longer cared.** _   
__

__   
_**His love had turned to hate.** _   
__   
__   
_**His kindness was lost to cruelty.** _   
__   
__   
_**His trust shattered by fear.** _   
__   
__   
_**His hope consumed by despair.** _   
__

__   
_**He no longer believed that those who come next would create the future.** _   
__   
__   
_**He no longer had the intent to pass his hopes and dreams to the next generation.** _   
__   
__   
_**The kindness he had once felt for all those around him forgotten, now replaced with empty coldness of despair.** _   
__

__   
_**Mankind's never ending stupidity, their inability to be content with the happiness they have, their constant desire for more, more and more that led them to commit acts of unspeakable evil;** _   
__

__   
_**To kill,** _   
__   
__   
_**To destroy,** _   
__   
__   
_**To hate,** _   
__   
__   
_**To suffer...** _   
__

__   
_**Even when ages of chaos and wars came to an end, it would take no more than 50 years for them start it all over again, always swearing and promising not to repeat the same mistakes. Yet never remembering the horrors and sufferings of the past for more than one generation.** _   
__

__   
_**In his eyes, mankind had become such a foul, hideous thing that he could no longer bear to see it destroy itself over and over, steadily moving towards the endgame, almost as if desiring it more than anything.** _   
__

__   
_**So the Nameless had come up with a final solution.** _   
__

__   
_**His clan would emerge from the shadows and with their devastating power would destroy the majority of humanity, all their lords and rulers, all their nations and all their reasons to resist him.** _   
__

__   
_**Once this was accomplished the Nameless would establish himself as the absolute divine sovereign of mankind and rebuild this world, to finally bring about the 'golden age' he had desired.** _   
__

  
_**His time will soon come...**_  
  
  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  
  


_**Journey of encounters, loss and battles to reach the throne of Nameless God** _   
__

The hero who stands against The Nameless with his compannions is someone who was formerly of that clan and has turned against them; the hero is doing it to stop him from destroying mankind, but there is another reason as well.

The hero was... in a way, the only 'friend' The Nameless had left. He was not born into the clan but was one of the few left in it who had come from the 'outside' or 'mortal world'.  
For those who become part of the clan, are given the gift of long life by The Nameless, enabling them to live up to 300 years.

The hero turned on his friend to stop him, but like i said, there is more to it that no one else in the clan would ever know;

_"My friend, i fear i must make a very... unreasonable request, for you are the only one i can turn to with it. This is the one, only and last thing i will ever ask you to do for me;_

_In the coming years, i will seek to destroy this world. When that time comes, you can choose to stand by my side or we can fight until one of us is dead._

_Before that day comes, you must go back to mortal world once more and live among them._   
_For me, their world offers no more comfort nor meaning... but for you, who was once part of it, it may still hold something worth protecting that you do not wish to see destroyed._

_If by some chance you find such a thing in that world of never ending strife and suffering, to make all of it still worthy... then when the time comes; i shall hear your answer."_

Soon after this, The Hero left the clan and years later would return and bear the brand of traitor to challenge and stop his former clan, comrades and friend.

The hero, before his return to stop his former clan, had indeed wandered the mortal world, his 'home', for years following his rather abrupt departure from the clan.

And, he had come danger close to going down the same path as The Nameless, to simply giving up on the world as it is and be swallowed by that same despair.

Until he met someone, a brave soul whom had not allowed him to trapped in that said despair.  
It was through this meeting he had found his first compannion, that the hero had began to discover something that his former clan had lost.  
Such a tiny, frail thing in the midst of all the endless strife... yet, it could be so strong it made everything worth it.

and to the hero, it was what gave him the will to take up arms against his former clan and friend.

Along with his compannions he fought his way through the clan, people he had once shared times of grief and joy, fought side by side; friends, comrades... yet now, the lines were drawn and neither would compromise.

After many struggles and brushes with death, finally, the two former friends faced off against one another. 

"So, here you stand before my throne, a group of miscreants led by a traitor.  
I have brought death on more deserving subjects for far less, yet i will indulge your meaningless efforts to reach me and give you one last chance to repent for your transgressions; 

Do so and the punishment will be limited to only you, traitor while the rest of your worthless ilk will be allowed safe passage out of my lands.  
Refuse, and the terror of absolute despair awaits all of you."

Said The Nameless, his words and eyes conveying naught but cold hatred along with his sheer presence of overwhelming power.

The hero however, along with his companions held their ground and responded:  
"I once truly believed in you, that you would be the one to save this world... But now, i see how it truly is; You trust nothing, you believe in no one and all that will be wrought in your wake is despair.

The only one i see that has transgressed, who has turned our clan into a hell of suffering... Is you.   
Before you can do the same to the world we will stop you today, here and now!"

They all then prepared themselves, as now they would face the most dangerous enemy of them all. A living God, with powers they could only imagine.

The Nameless, upon hearing those words closed his eyes for a moment, let out a heavy sigh and said:  
"I was ever so slightly curious what you would have to say. But if that is your answer... Then i am disappointed."

As he slowly stood up from his throne, opening his eyes again the cold hatred was gone; in its place he looked at them now with complacent disinterest.

Yet his presence remained just as overwhelming. 

The final battle was upon them. 

  
╔⏤⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗  


_**Nameless God with the power of many in one,** _   
__   
__   
_**Hero and his comrades with the power of many as one.** _   
__

__   
_**A Hero refusing to give up on hope,** _   
__   
__   
_**A God who feels naught but despair.** _   
__

  
_**"In the end, you are but mortal fools before a God.**_  
  
  
 _ **You will all die, without laying one hand on me."**_  


╚⏤⏤⏤⏤╗❀╔⏤⏤⏤⏤╝  


Were the words said as the first clash rang out across the throne room.

The battle with The Nameless was brutal, not only due to his powers having ascended mortal limits nor due to his countless centuries of experience, but because all the battles before while against people with immense strength had been just that; battles of power.

Against The Nameless, who had surpassed such notions, something more was needed.  
For he was more than just a foe to be defeated, he was something 'absolute' that invoked primal fear from the deepest instincts of those who stood before him.

Just being in his presence was straining to ones very spirit, which made mustering the strength necessary to harm him a trial by itself.

Only the hero was able to fight properly against him at that time, but even then he could feel that same strain creeping in.  
His will and determination were all that kept him from succumbing.

Then, after combined efforts The Nameless spilled blood for the first time.  
A moment of triumphant elation spread among them, but it was short lived:

"You...! Mere impudent lowlifes have spilled my blood, my divine blood."

There was fury on his face, yet soon he managed to calm himself.  
The disinterest faded from his eyes, turning into fierce determination. 

"It seems you did not reach my throne for nothing, i concede i underestimated you all.  
Very well, i will acknowledge your strength and respond accordingly by recognising you as a threat."  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

_**As a God acknowledges his mortal adversaries, the world trembles as it feels what is to come** _   
__

The throne room around them began to rumble, the very air becoming saturated with an suffocating dread of imminent death... Nameless God, the most powerful being walking the earth was becoming serious. 

"Firm your guard, steel your resolve, do not lose focus, for in the instant you do... You will die."

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓  
  
_**"Now, my adversaries; extol at the true power of a God!"**_  
  
┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛

At that declaration, the inhuman pressure rose by several fold and the same fear once more gripped their hearts, threatening to crush it.

However, they would not relent; standing up, gritting their teeth, hardening their resolve and readying their weapons.   
Despite overwhelming odds, they pressed on.  
Knowing their opponent was a God, they fought.  
But more than it all, they did so as one.

No matter how outmatched the battle seemed. 

Yet, little by little the gap between the two sides was narrowing; the Hero and his compannions had not survived all this way for nothing and were beginning to find mental strength to escape the pressure Nameless was crushing them with.  
However, it was brittle at best.

As this stalemate went on, The Nameless could feel the strain from fighting at full strength on his body, knowing keeping this up may cost him more than expected he came up with an idea on how to end this now. 

The Nameless began to question their reasons for pushing themselves this far, to defy him; a God who knew the future of mankind.

Their common reason being that they didn't believe the vision of the future The Nameless prophesised; that it was not set in stone, that he was wrong for giving up on the mortal world.

Hearing this, what they learned next was the most devastating hit they could have taken.

The Nameless revealed something that no one in existence had known until this moment; he hadn't seen the future, he was FROM the future.  
He had time travelled to change history, only to see the future refuse to change.

It was a critical blow to their motivation, but then he made it a fatal one.

This wasn't the first attempt.  
The Nameless had travelled through time again and again, in attempts to change the future.

6 times.

Due to the restriction of the power that enabled it, he could only return to the period in history where he first travelled to, meaning every time he had to retry changing things it had to be literally done from square one and spend hundreds of years to see if it had worked.

After the 3rd attempt he had learned to notice and recognise the signs earlier and earlier that changing history was going to fail.  
So accordingly he had returned back to square one earlier and earlier...

"After all this tireless strife, constant, endless suffering to change the future... i don't even remember why i bothered to try and save you anymore."

Now, it was his 7th attempt.

"If humanity refuses to follow a benevolent God, instead desiring to follow the path of ruin towards their endgame no matter what; then, i will become the Malevolent Devil who will bring you the suffering and end you so seem to desire with my own hands, rather than wait for the inevitable."

The revelation from The Nameless had left the hero and his compannions will and determination to fight on its knees; all this time they had fought believing The Nameless to be wrong, for him to be mistaken in abandoning humanity...

Yet now, knowing that he was someone from the future and that he had done this over and over, hundreds upon hundereds of years of nothing but struggling against a fated future.

They... had no response, for what could they possibly say to someone who has lived as long as The Nameless had?  
None of them could...  
All but for one.

The hero had been as shocked as them, just as shaken from what his former friend had said. Yet, when the shock passed and he processed those very words further, he was reminded of why he was here;

To protect what he had found in the mortal world, that small, tiny and frail thing that his clansmen, even his friend had lost, what the Brave Soul had shown him that made living through all the strife, all the suffering worth it.

And, to let his friend hear his answer.

Finding his strength to stand once more, to firm his will and determination to take up arms against his former friend one last time; to stop him from doing what could never be undone.

The hero, surprising even The Nameless charged at him with everything he had left.   


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

_**Clashing of Hope and Despair, until one falls**_  


For his compannions the sight of the hero standing up once more and going into battle, despite all that had been revealed, gave them strength to one by one stand up as well; to break through the despair they had felt moments ago and re-affirming their reasons for fighting, they joined their compannion to battle a God.

The odds of the battle were heavily against them, yet they did not falter.  
Despite The Nameless possessing power beyond any mortal limit, they did not fear.  
The pressure that had taxed their spirits, lost its grip on them.

As one of them fell, exhausted from injuries or otherwise, those that remained fought twice as hard.  
Slowly, little by little, against all odds the injuries on The Nameless were increasing.  
He was weakening, yet would not falter either; for his will, forged from centuries of strife would not let him.

In the end, only the Hero and The Nameless were still standing, all others having used any and all strength they had, unable to stand up anymore.

Both injured more than one could describe, the only thing keeping them standing was their sheer willpower.

"None of this will change what is to come; you are nothing but a fleeting pile of ash before the storm of fate!  
I carry the full weight of despair from 6 life times you cannot begin to imagine, and nothing will stop me from acting on what must be done for the world i will create!  
That is my mission, my purpose as a God!

And yet you stand in my way, one who is naught but a mere mortal traitor, for what?! For a world of nothing but strife and suffering?!"

Nameless roared in pain and exhaustion induced fury, unwilling to accept that he had been pushed this far by mortals like this.

The Hero, in just as much pain and exhaustion replied with a resolved tone:

"... That may be, yet any new world created by such means, even by a God like you; will never bring nothing but despair to all who live in it!

I am a mortal, and i will stop you no matter what it takes for that is my choice as one!"

With that they both gathered every last inch of strength they had left; all of their experience, feelings and will that had kept them standing and focusing it all onto this one last move.

To all those witnessing it, only words that could describe it all would be that the two of them had become living avatars of despair and hope.

And then they moved to attack one another, both stepping onto that thin line between life and death to settle it all.

  
_**The end had come, and only one would triumph.**_  


As their last attacks hit one another, both remembered that time The Namelss had made his one and only request to his friend.

And at that instant, without even needing words, something was conveyd that only the two of them would ever know.  
An instant to the world, but for them an escape from time.

"Hope will not save this world, its people will always let you down; for despair is inevitable."  
Conveyed The Nameless.

"As long as there is even one who gives not on hope, this world is worth protecting; for hope enables us to overcome despair."  
The Hero conveyed back.

And then time moved for them once again, their last clash reaching its breaking point.

Collision of all their beings, pushed past their final limits.

_'So, this is your answer...'_

Were The Nameless thoughts as he fell onto his knees, the heros attack overcoming his, leaving him with no more strength or will to stand up again.

He had lost.  
His plans... foiled.  
His mission... failed.  
His purpose... shattered.  
His despair... immeasurable.  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  


  
As the heros compannions realised what had happened, the Nameless noticed the joy beginning to form on their faces at his defeat, his former friend standing over him... and realising that all his centuries of endless suffering and struggling, had all been for nothing; all his frustration, pain, despair. all the hatred and rage, it all boiled over and he could no longer hold it in;

"This is a farce! I am a God, an existence that has far surpassed your feeble limits!  
You foul, hideous beings deserve your extinction!

After killing each other and causing untold amount of suffering, you are on your knees before God begging to be fulfilled with happiness again, always promising not to repeat your mistakes...  
But it takes you no more than 50 years to forget what made you feel fulfilled!

So you begin craving to feel even more of it and not even when you kill, rape, massacre and wage war upon war to steal it from each other you are never satisfied, repeating the same mistakes again and again, from one generation to the next!!

Defiled history!  
Hideous mortals!  
Disgraced world!

It all must be brought to an end! Only then can a new world of happiness be born!  
And i will make it happen, even if i must kill fate itself!!"

His words, despite being defeated sent chills to the core of all present; the sheer despair they carried was beyond what they could describe, the hatred born of hurt and suffering so deep it defied comprehension... 

They wanted to say something, anything to prove he was wrong, but what could they say to him? What could they who had lived not even a fraction of what he had lived through, possibly say to him?

Yet one among them, the brave soul whom the Hero had met, walked up to him and knelt before his defeated form, for to this person his words though hitting deep and painfully, felt as if there was something hiding behind them... like the words were meant to not only keep others from realising it, or maybe, to go as far as keeping himself from seeing it.

"Nameless..."

This person began, knowing not if this was the correct thing to ask, and even if it was it would hurt him more than all the time jumps could ever have.  
But it needed to be voiced.  
For who else would dare to ask such a... human question from a God?

"... who was it, that you lost?"

Those words, before he could think of anything else, cut past all the centuries of memories, all the despair, all the failures... to the one single memory, he had made himself forget.

The howling of agony, the pain of having his mind overflow with memories of ages past, feelings he had long since killed inside him violently coming back to life, was something all the poets of the world could not describe.

And at the core of it all, the image of one person, whom he had lost in a place where it all began.... and those last words, that haunted him forever on;

┏━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┓

  
_**"You cannot save everyone..."**_  


_**At the end of the outcry of agony, there was silence that weighed more than his words from moment ago.** _   
_**Only one last word from that person echoed throughout his entire soul...** _

_**".... Father."**_  


┗━━━━━━༻❁༺━━━━━━┛  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  


  
The silence that followed, was in ways far more oppressing than their fight to the death just moments ago.

Then, he started talking;

Long time ago, where it all started while despairing over the state of the world and the path mankind had chosen, The Nameless had those that gave him hope and drive to struggle through it and a place of solace where to rest.

A wife who had supported him, whom he had tragically lost giving birth to their child.

His child, was the world to him and for many years despite all the challenges were the happiest times. Yet, whenever he thought of the world that awaited growing up...

Something had to be done.

For their sake he and many others he considered friends had undertaken a task to change things, to try and find a way of saving what could be saved.  
In the course of this over long years, they accidentally discovered potentially a way of travelling through time, which led to them keeping what they had found utterly secret for they knew if this became known to those in power...

They secluded themselves from the world to work on their discovery, and his child grew up there with him.

However, the more they researched their discovery, the full weight of its potentially uses and consequences was a heavy burden on them all.

His child too having grown up became part of the team to help them. Such a bright, smart kid, fast learner and boundlessly curious. Yet, also an idealist to an irritating degree at times.

The Nameless had been the realist, and the debates between them about the state of things and how they could be changed were stalemates, for they were just as stubbord as each other.

One wanted to save everyone, but was realistic about it and knew it wasn't possible.  
The other wanted the same, but idealistically wanted to actually save everyone.

As the method of harnessing their discovery for actual use came closer, 18 years since the day it was found, from which 8 had been spent secluded from the world, the debates about actually going through with it became increasingly divisive among them for countless reasons.

Chief among them being that only one could be sent through.

Not to mention, there was no telling what would actually happen to the person who would go through with it or if they could come back at all, or if there even would be something to come back to.

The Nameless had been among those who didn't want to use it, having grown fearful of its magnitude and dangers, his child was not, believing it could be used to create a utopia where no one needed to suffer anymore.

But for him, it very well could have been that behind all his logical arguments the real reason he didn't want to use it from fear it would actually work; that his life with his child would cease to exist.

Changing the world sounds ideal, but reality and gravity of that notion when you have the potential tools to go through with it... 

That's a different animal all together.

He loved this world, there was no doubt about that. He wanted to save everyone, but being a realist held him back from fully committing to it.

In the past, he had been the type who would have ran into a burning building to save anyone left behind without regards to his own safety.  
He was the same way even after getting married.

Yet, when his wife died giving birth, the thought of doing it again, to risk being seperated and leaving his child behind... made him freeze.

He was conflicted.

But then, things went to hell.

During a routine test of their method, an accident occurred causing it to become unstable and the test team was caught in it.  
Rescue attempts were extremely risky, but for The Nameless that was irrelevant; for his child had been part of the test team.

Despite risking life and limb, a part of the test team was still fatally trapped, his child among them.

They eventually succeeded in getting them out, but the cost...

His child was fatally wounded.  
While he had been risking life and limb to get them out, his child had done the same on the other side to keep those trapped alive.  
Only, luck had simply run out.

Despite all medical efforts, the injuries were simply too severe.

All he could do was hold on while his child barely managed to utter those last words, that haunted him forever on.  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈

_**The one once known as a God, reveals an all too human heart scarred by the world** _   
__

Following the loss of his child, The Nameless was bereft of motive or reason to keep going.

Even the work they had been doing was now on the verge of collapsing, for the accident had not only wrecked most of their equipment but also left the survivors demoralised.

Many who had been against its use left the facility, disillusioned.  
Those who opted to stay and keep working did keep at it but without The Nameless, who was effectively the head of the project guiding them their motivation was faltering.

As for him... well, do you even need to ask?

It took a month before he even left his office for more than 10 minutes at a time.   
Even then all he did was wander around the hallways like a ghost.

Then, one night he had entered the test chamber by himself and started up the method of going through time before anyone realised it or could stop him.

He wanted to travel back in time to the day of the accident and stop his child from dying.  
Yet, no matter how hard he tried the method would not work; he couldn't travel through.

Further study suggested that there were restrictions to the method itself. Top among them being that The Nameless cannot go back in time to a period where he himself has already existed in.

To put it in other words, he would have to go back past the point of his own birth, maybe even further.

For him, it felt like a sick, cruel joke from fate; the method he had been working on to save mankind could not be used to save the one person whom had mattered the most to him.

He had never been a person to even entertain the idea of suicide, but the following days made it feel a really tempting, even an overwhelming notion.

In the pits of that despair, where he had been ready to give up and end it all... 

Those last words that haunted him, would trigger the domino effect that led us here today.

He couldn't save his child, but maybe instead he could save everyone else and make the utopia of their debates a reality, to keep their memories alive.

Finding the resolve, he threw himself at his work. 

It wasn't enough to have the method if there wasn't a destination, so going through historical archives like a man possessed he determined where to jump to exactly to begin the restoration of mankinds path.

Those who had stayed with him were at first relieved that he was back, but as time went on they had began to be wary of him.

Obsessed, wasn't strong enough a word to describe his behaviour.  
It seemed as if all those arguments he had made about not using the method had either been a lie, or that he wasn't the least bit concerned about any of it.

Like he was drifting away, that humanity was becoming just a concept to him and not actual people.

Some of them had even started coming up with different methods of using their discovery to perhaps aid the people today, that it could very well be used to help mankind pull through the endgame rather than avert it.

Sufficed to say, this resulted in a number of heated arguments between the staff and The Nameless.  
They were friends, who had all helped raise his child one way or another and had felt the loss like it had been their own.  
Now, it was as if they weren't on the same page, or even the same book anymore.

It eventually even ended in a violent confrontation between him and a staff member, who had been with The Nameless the longest.  
This was the breaking point.

No matter what, The Nameless would not budge on his intent of going through with the initial method to save mankind by re-writing history, while the others wanted to use it to help mankind as is.

Or rather, he knew all too well that they still had people in this world they wanted to protect.  
That they were giving up on their mission in order to pursue what had been taken from him.

The Nameless would not wait any longer, he had had enough of the farce this mission was becoming; If he had to do this alone, if he was the only one who still believed in the mission... so be it.

Using his executive priviliges, he isolated the facility in order to go through with the method. The others tried to talk him out of it, but he was no longer listening to the words of 'traitors'.

Mankind as is was a lost cause, nothing would change that. Only hope, was to re-roll the dice and this time come out on top.

Setting the travelling point, the method opened the door through time and The Nameless went through.

For a fleeting moment, he had actually hoped it would fail and would simply kill him.

Upon arriving and beginning the mission... well, you know how that went.

What we didn't know, was that the first time upon seeing overall history did not change.  
In his despair he had lived through the centuries until the age he had originally come from arrived.

That was the last time, he had allowed himself to hope; he had tried to find his parents, wife, friends, anyone whom he had known in this era.

He had hoped that despite the attempt to re-write history having failed, he could at least find a way to save the people who mattered the most; maybe this time he could save his child... as well as his wife from the fatal complications giving birth.

Yet..... 

There was no one. The people he had known did not exist, neither did his wife.  
Even himself; his parents hadn't even been born, so he did not exist in 'this' day and age.

His wife, his child, they were truly gone; he would never see them again and this world held no memory of their existence.

He was an anomaly, something that didn't belong, that should not exist.

The only thing that had remained, was the endgame; It was still happening, as to mock and ridicule all his efforts, sacrifice and loss. 

And as if to keep taunting him, the ability to travel through time back to the point where he had first travelled to had stayed with him.

It required lengthy preparation and effort, but he would do it.  
The mission, to avert the endgame was now all he had left; if his wife, his child were lost to him for good...  
Then no matter what it takes, he would save this world, save mankind.   
For that was his purpose.

As he travelled through time again, on that day he truly became The Nameless.

Leading us to where we are now.  
And the rest, in a way, is history.  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  


  
"Living forever, do you know what is the true hell it brings?  
It isn't outliving all those around you,  
nor is it seeing the world you knew lost to time.

It is how you begin to forget;

How those you once knew become increasingly distant and lost in your memories, their names, faces, eyes... even their scent.  
Then you start to wonder if they even existed in the first place.  
Maybe they were just illusions you made up, to make the endless passage of time bearable.

Without noticing, other things slip away and are lost as well.  
Until, you will even have forgotten how to cry... or laugh."

The Nameless finished talking with a voice so beaten and broken by despair and sorrow, that it made their victory feel bitter and hollow.

"I could not save my child, i cannot even keep our last memories together alive nor can i complete my mission.  
Mankind heads towards the endgame irregardless of all that has happened, and now even fate has sought to eliminate me from intervening any further.

I'm not a God, just another meaningless mortal man who has failed to save a world he no longer knows or even belongs to. All i am, is an anomaly that should not exist. There is no future nor hope... It has all been for nothing."

With those words, they could feel all the pressure The Nameless had emitted disappear, replaced by a cold void. The will that had kept him going was gone, the determination that had kept him standing had crumbled. He was no longer a God, only a beaten man who had nothing left.

"Kill me, please kill me; I would rather be dead than live to again see the hell this world will become.   
End it."

They had all known the only way for this to end was for The Nameless to die, yet at that moment their weapons felt heavier than they had ever felt before. For they could not escape the feeling that this was wrong, that he did not deserve do die like this; broken by despair.

As this moment dragged on, that same brave soul who had dared to ask a God such a human question, spoke again; "You could not save everyone..."

At that second, everything froze as this person grabbed The Nameless by his chest garment, looked him dead in the eye and spoke with anger:   
"So you abandoned even those around you?! Exactly how stupid are you?!"

There was a chilling silence in the air. Even The Nameless for a brief instant looked stunned before despair overcame his face again: "It does not matter, the endgame is already inevi-"

_**"SHUT UP!!"** _

The Nameless was stunned yet again, as was everyone else.

"Endgame this, endgame that. Stop talking like you know everything you idiot! You saw more than we can imagine, there is no denying that but at what point was it up to you to decide the fate of everyone in this world?!

You could not save mankind? Well guess what; No one person can do that! You say you have now tried several times to change things, but let me ask you this; How do you know you already haven't?!"

At this point, Nameless' face seemed to change and instead of pure despair, anger was also beginning to rise;

"You...! I lived to see the world go through the same phases over and over! What do you know what it feels like to see the repetition of it all happening over and over stretching on for centuries!"

To which the Brave Soul dug in and retorted;

"You're right, i wouldn't understand how that feels like! But how can you say that during all those times everything would play out the same in the end? You jumped before you knew for certain, earlier and earlier each time so how would you know?!"

The Nameless' anger reached its peak at this point;

"Because that is how humanity is! We don't change, we don't learn, we just repeat the same mistakes over and over! Even those around me chose to turn on me, betray and leave me alone to carry this burden, all so they could pursue the future, happiness and hope that were taken from me!"

There was another silence after that outburst.  
The brave soul was looking downcast, quiet for a moment before responding;

"... It hurts, doesn't it?"

At that instant, The Nameless was speechless, his anger fading and being replaced with shock. For this brave soul, was looking at him...

"... to remember what it means to be human?"

.... and crying.  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  


  
The Nameless had no idea what to say, he was... scared. He feared this human in front of him, crying for him, and the words that were said.

"You, me, everyone. We are all only human; imperfect, weak, foolish... yet, despite all that, we still strive to create a better tomorrow. 

We cause suffering, act on selfish, evil desires; yet we still refuse to give in and continue to try and be better than who we were yesterday.Those around you, did not betray you, they simply wanted to remember what it meant to be human.  
But, you already knew this, i know you did."

 _'Stop it, don't-_ '

he was thinking, frightened of what he had denied himself to realise.

"That is why it hurts, not because of what they did but because you-"

' _STOP IT..._ '

something was re-awakening in him, a feeling that he had forgotten and killed long ago. A feeling that hurt so much.

"-still wish you had stayed with them."

_" **STOP IT!!** "_

He finally shouted out with a strangled voice. "Stop it... They abandoned me, gave up on our cause..." he finished with a low, unconvincing voice.

"... Or were they the ones, who tried to keep you from giving up on us?"

He was visibly trembling, it was unreal seeing The Nameless who only moments ago had had them fighting for their lives under his inhuman pressure, to look so... vulnerable.

The brave soul then finished; "We cannot save everyone."

Those words, the words that had haunted him for so long.  
To hear them again, felt like the final insult in this sick joke he had become.

Yet, what was said next, despite being mere words from a mortal being, would carry more meaning than one could imagine.

"So instead we save those around us that we can, who in turn can do the same to those around them."

Mere words, yet for The Nameless they held an epiphany that changed everything.

The words that had tormented him for so long, it was so simple; yet how could he not see it until now?  
His child had known what he would become, the path he would go down.   
They were meant to give him hope, to help turn the tragedy into strength.

Yet those words, he had misuderstood them; twisted them into an obsessive drive.  
Maybe he had always known the meaning behind them, but he had wanted to... atone, for failing to save his child, by saving everyone.

He had wanted to wash away the guilt, yet after so many failures, that guilt had become more important than saving people.

To carry everything, shoulder all the burden; to be punished, to be broken.

Yet, nothing would ease the pain, nor soothe the guilt.

Stopping the endgame, had become all that mattered even if he had to become evil itself.

But, deep down it had all been to punish and break who he had been; that fool who had believed everyone could be saved, who had foolishly thought anything he did would change things.

He had even forgotten why he had set out in the first place; he had actually sought to forget the one thing that had mattered.

And ultimately destroy everything he had wanted to protect in a warped, twisted attempt to completely erase who he had once been, and the words that had haunted him.

Yet now, the brave soul in front of him had delivered the meaning behind those words.  
At this moment, everything felt so clear.  
It was like he had at long last been able to hear his lost childs last words to the end.

Even his friend, who had come back to stop him; when he made that request, he had honestly wanted him to come back and stand by his side.  
But for the hero to return to do battle instead...

Had he wanted his friend to agree with him? For what?   
Had he been... uncertain, of his chosen path?   
Had he sought approval?

No, maybe, this is exactly what he had desired; for someone to stop him.

The Nameless stared at all of them, his own despair and sorrow breaking and falling off like dead skin and he remembered; the feeling that had hurt so much because of how long he had craved, yet feared to feel again.

_'These people, they have not lived even a fraction of the time i have, yet despite knowing the truth, what is to come, they still refuse to give in. For so long i... what have i...?'_

His memories playing before his eyes, he could not help it but think and remember: 

_'What have i fought for...?_   
_What have i lamented...?_   
_What have i protected...?'_

He felt all those endless ages of strife and the burden of failures he had carried throughout them leaving him, for so powerful was what he had craved, yet feared to feel again:

_'Hope. I had forgotten, how powerful it truly is... No, i never forgot; i chose throw it away, because...'_

As images of his child came to him, he smiled bitterly and found the strength to stand up again.  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  


_**The end of despair, revival of hope; a God is no more**_  


The Nameless stood up on shaky legs, despite all his injuries.

After taking several deep breaths, he spoke:

"All of you, to make me remember this painful feeling, that started all of this madness and suffering..."

The air around him changed, causing all of them to be on guard.

The Nameless looked at all of them, before raising his hand, placing it on his chest and bowing his head. "... Thank you."

They were all confused, yet at the same time the air around the Nameless made them all feel at ease.

"For so long, i hated mankind, my companions who left me behind and fate for refusing to change. I despised them all, believed they had abandoned what mattered..."   
He continued while keeping his head bowed.

Then as he lifted his head and opened his eyes, they all felt a sense of elation, of joy, for his eyes had changed;  
they were no longer cold, indifferent fierce eyes of a heartless God but instead the warm, benevolent and hopeful eyes of a human.

In that instant they understood and realised that these eyes belonged to the old Nameless, when he had first set out to truly save mankind; the eyes of a man whom so many had entrusted their hopes and loyalty, to follow him through hell itself. Even his voice, was no longer weighted down by despair but instead being restored by hope that had revived within him.

"... but i was wrong; I was the one who had forgotten what mattered the most. I wanted to stop the endgame so much and in doing so lost sight of what it was that i had been struggling for.

My compannions saw this and tried to keep me from going down this path, yet in my arrogance, anger and pride i refused to understand or even listen, opting to think they had given up and betrayed me.

You might be right; maybe i have already changed things enough so that mankind will live beyond the endgame.   
Yet, i was too afraid to have hope in mankind again to see it through. Or, maybe i simply just refused believe anyone but myself could see it through to the end."

At this moment, his body was acting strange; parts of it began to ever so slowly change in color that looked like ash.

"Maybe, fate sent you all my way, to show me how wrong i truly was... and to stop me from destroying what matters the most."

More images of his child played in his head, each one clearer than the last while at the same time everyone could see that the parts of his body that were turning in color were starting to break into actual ash.

' _This, is how it should be, isn't it? I am doing what i should have done so long ago...'_  
Were his somber thoughts.

"This body, that has lived throughout so many ages is finally at its limit. When i made the last jump i felt it; something had began to breakdown inside me and now with this defeat i will die, turn to ash and disappear.   
But it is here, at the end of my long road that i have met you all, people to whom i can pass on my hope."

He then lifted his slowly disintegrating hands to his sides and declared:  
"Let my death mark the end of my mission, and the beginning of yours. This, is your world now."

It was in that moment that they all felt the urge to shed tears, for it truly felt like they had won; not only the battle but also allowed The Nameless who had long since lost faith in mankind to pass on his blessing, hope and will to them one last time.

It was then that the palace around them began to tremble, signaling its imminent collapse. The final battle had left its structure compromised and it had been a mirace it lasted staying intact at all.

"Go! Return to your world and live!"   
Were his words to them, as all of them began to flee from the collapsing building.

However, at the entrance to the throne room, the brave soul stopped and turned back one more time, speaking to The Nameless:   
"What is your name?"

He was stunned yet again. ' _I swear, this one never ceases to...'_

Before replying: "It does not matter, i am something that should not exist and must disappear that way as well, leaving nothing behind."

"Yes it does matter! You fought so long, suffered and lost so much, so to see you disappear just like this without even knowing your name, is just too sad!"

The brave soul said, crying again. 

"You lived here! You existed here! We felt your convictions, beliefs and heart in our battle! You told us your past, your suffering and loss; we will remember you! You are not a Nameless God; you are human!!"

The Nameless, stunned beyond words stayed silent, even when the debris was slowly coming down around them all he could do was look at the the brave souls crying face and hearing those words echo in his mind.

'We will remember you, you are human'... 

How long had it been? How long had it been since anyone had dared to be this close to him, to call him that, to ask him something so simple; what is your name? He had resolved to disappear without a trace, to leave nothing of himself behind in this world. 

And yet...

This time, it was the brave souls turn to be silent, for this was a moment that once passed would be lost to all time, except for the one person who bore witness to it.

"My name... My name is-" 

His voice was covered by the now increasing falling debris, and only the brave soul heard it.

"I will remember, i will never forget it!" Were the brave souls words before departing in a hurry.

In the collapsing throne room, he stood alone with most of his body having turned to the color of ash and the rate of his disintegration increasing rapidly.

This was the end.

What would come beyond death? Heaven, hell... or for a soul like him, maybe only oblivion awaited.

Yet, none of it mattered.

For at this moment, he felt peaceful beyond words. Something so simple, for someone to simply ask him for his name after an eternity of having none. Now that he had uttered it, it felt like he was finally himself again;

  
 _'I am human_.'  


Was the only way he could describe this feeling.

The Nameless truly was no more...

"Thank you..." 

Were the quiet words he uttered as a large piece of debris fell onto him, crushing him into the ground and causing the majority of his body to finally break and turn into ash.

Yet at that moment, whether it was a delusion or not, he saw a light above him from where a hand was reaching out to him; even after all these countless centuries, he recognised it instantly. 

◢✥◣  
  
 _ **'Come home...'**_  
  
◥✥◤

And then, just as he breathed his last, his eyes wept true tears one last time as his hand reached up and took hold of the one reaching out to him.

With an arm that had already turned to ash....  


  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  


  
As they all watched from a distance as the palace collapsed, the hero and the brave soul were the only ones who felt that The Nameless had passed on, yet, they could swear they too felt the peace he had felt.

The brave soul then asked: "Do you think he was forgiven?"

To which the hero replied: "That, i do not know. But at long last he just... finally forgave himself."

_**At the end of long strife, all that remains is the requiem for a fallen friend.**_  


Years after the battle ended, the brave soul had started a family and is holding their first born child. When asked about the childs name, there is a very special one.  
A name that brave soul has been carrying, that no one else knew.

Smiling, the brave soul spoke:

  
"His name? His name is..."  
  
  
┈ ┈ ┈ ⋞ ⟨ ⏣ ⟩ ⋟ ┈ ┈ ┈  


  
━━━━━━━━┛ ✠ ┗━━━━━━━━  
  
 _ **The End**_  
  
━━━━━━━━┓ ✠ ┏━━━━━━━━

**Author's Note:**

> If you have read all the way here, i thank you.  
> Any and all feedback is appreciated.
> 
> I won't lie; i'm always hungry for feedback, comments, etc.  
> They help me improve going forward and make it all feel worthwhile.
> 
> But, thank you regardless for reading my story.


End file.
